Secure buy-in to strategic decisions

[border_divider] Many companies have known both rationally and intuitively what to do, but have failed to follow through because of internal politics or ‘messy’ social factors (some of the big and famous ones are Kodak, HP and Digital Equipment Corporation).

Moving from strategic decision-making to strategic action involves a mixture of rational analysis, gut-feel based on experience, and a lot of messy negotiating if you want something that will be supported by key players once you move to implementation.

If you ignore any of these, you risk losing out on an important input to a wise and productive decision. It is also to risk traps which will surprise you and arrest progress towards your goals: because if you are not aware of a critical factor (if for example you pride yourself on rational analysis, and think a social factor is ‘soft’), you will stumble over it.

For the leader who appreciates that apparent buy-in is easily faked or forced, the Strategic Buy-in Builder processs is designed to help. Typically the process will involve:

Creating a setting in which you can get beyond entrenched positions, defensiveness, or the need for manoeuvring

Understanding the positions of each of the key players and how their preferred solutions follow from their view of the world

Generating options for accommodation given the players and the validity of the positions

Guidance through the process of seeking an acceptable accommodation

Committing to action which will bring the accommodation to reality

This is designed to ensure that you balance analytic, intuitive and social factors, so that they work for rather than against each other whenever you are making a strategic decision, and to give the follow-through the best possible opportunity to achieve your goals.